Beijing set to begin search for new point man on cross-strait affairs

Taiwan Affairs Office director Liu Jieyi will soon turn 65, the normal retirement age for ministers

Analysts say President Xi will call shots as head of party’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs

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Published: 12:05am, 16 Aug 2022Updated: 2:46pm, 19 Aug 2022

Ahead of this year’s Communist Party congress, we explore the possible personnel changes and power structure of the areas that will have the largest impact on Beijing’s Taiwan policy. In the first part of the series, Jack Lau looks at potential candidates to take over the helm of the Taiwan Affairs Office.

Seven days of unprecedented military exercises around Taiwan this month by the People’s Liberation Army showed the island remains at the centre of one of Beijing’s most sensitive foreign policy issues.

Beijing accused the United States of changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait by allowing Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, to visit the island. Washington hit back, saying Beijing attempted to change the status quo with the war games.

The trip and war games brought Sino-US ties to a new low just a few months before the Communist Party unveils a revamped leadership line-up at its 20th national congress.

With Liu Jieyi, the director of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office, expected to step down in March, an indication of who will succeed him is likely to emerge at the congress.

Taiwan Affairs Office director Liu Jieyi. Photo: Weibo

But analysts said that because President Xi Jinping headed Beijing’s main decision-making body on cross-strait matters – the party’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs – whoever replaced Liu would find they only had a limited role to play.

SCMP Series

Communist Party leadership changes that could impact Beijing’s Taiwan policy

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